I'm a breastfeeding mama, my little guy is almost 19 months old and not showing any signs of wanting to wean. I nurse him in public whenever it's required (i.e.: whenever he's tired or fussy and a little warm milk will keep the volume down for a bit). Along with lots of other modern moms, I was pretty peeved when I heard the story of Emily Gillette, escorted off a Freedom Airlines flight because she wouldn't put a blanket over her breastfeeding daughter's head. (After a three-hour delay. At 10 p.m. In the window seat. In the second-to-last row. !!)Freedom Airlines, which operates a Delta Connection line, is now saying they offered to reboard Emily and family after having a ticket agent come to usher them off the plane -- in an email to me, she disputes that claim, and is even more angry that the airline is calling her a liar (she had already claimed that the airline wouldn't let her fly until the next day).
Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. local time, nurse-ins are planned at Delta ticket counters in many cities. Although the stock has fallen from the high just-post the US Airways bid, it was up 14 cents, or 11%, to $1.40 today. Will these nurse-ins have much effect on a stock already pummeled with the effects of the company's ongoing bankruptcy? I love that public breastfeeding is becoming a headline-y cause. But do protests like nurse-ins effect the companies against which they are targeted?
Even more importantly, should I go to my local nurse-in at the Portland International Airport? Do protests do anything for the world other than employ photographers and the writers of sensational evening news leadins? Are protests a valuable way to express your power over the economy, or just screaming (angrily, and with really cute babies) into the wind?
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My breastfeeding email lists are buzzing this morning with news of a sweet-looking New Mexico mother, Emily Gillette. 

